pr.1. Whether I am likely to accomplish anything worthy of the labour, if I record the achievements of the Roman people from the foundation of the city, I do not really know, nor if I knew would I dare to avouch it; perceiving as I do that the theme is not only old but hackneyed, through the constant succession of new historians, who believe either that in their facts they can produce more authentic information, or that in their style they will prove better than the rude attempts of the ancients.
pr.1. facturusne operae pretium sim si a primordio urbis res populi Romani perscripserim nec satis scio nec, si sciam, dicere ausim, quippe qui cum ueterem tum uolgatam esse rem uideam, dum noui semper scriptores aut in rebus certius aliquid allaturos se aut scribendi arte rudem uetustatem superaturos credunt.
pr.3. Yet, however this shall be, it will be a satisfaction to have done myself as much as lies in me to commemorate the deeds of the foremost people of the world; and if in so vast a company of writers my own reputation should be obscure, my consolation would be the fame and greatness of those whose renown will throw mine into the shade.
pr.3. utcumque erit, iuuabit tamen rerum gestarum memoriae principis terrarum populi pro uirili parte et ipsum consuluisse; et si in tanta scriptorum turba mea fama in obscuro sit, nobilitate ac magnitudine eorum me qui nomini officient meo consoler.
pr.4. Moreover, my subject involves infinite labour, seeing that it must be traced back above seven hundred years, and that proceeding from slender beginnings it has so increased as now to be burdened by its own magnitude; and at the same time I doubt not that to most readers the earliest origins and the period immediately succeeding them will give little pleasure, for they will be in haste to reach these modern times, in which the might of a people which has long been very powerful is working its own undoing.
pr.4. res est praeterea et immensi operis, ut quae supra septingentesimum annum repetatur et quae ab exiguis profecta initiis eo creuerit ut iam magnitudine laboret sua; et legentium plerisque haud dubito quin primae origines proximaque originibus minus praebitura uoluptatis sint, festinantibus ad haec noua quibus iam pridem praeualentis populi uires se ipsae conficiunt:
pr.5. I myself, on the contrary, shall seek in this an additional reward for my toil, that I may avert my gaze from the troubles which our age has been witnessing for so many years, so long at least as I am absorbed in the recollection of the brave days of old, free from every care which, even if it could not divert the historian's mind from the truth, might nevertheless cause it anxiety.
pr.5. ego contra hoc quoque laboris praemium petam, ut me a conspectu malorum quae nostra tot per annos uidit aetas, tantisper certe dum prisca [tota] illa mente repeto, auertam, omnis expers curae quae scribentis animum, etsi non flectere a uero, sollicitum tamen efficere posset. quae ante conditam condendamue urbem poeticis magis decora fabulis quam incorruptis rerum gestarum monumentis traduntur, ea nec adfirmare nec refellere in animo est.
pr.7. Such traditions as belong to the time before the city was founded, or rather was presently to be founded, and are rather adorned with poetic legends than based upon trustworthy historical proofs, I purpose neither to affirm nor to refute. It is the privilege of antiquity to mingle divine things with human, and so to add dignity to the beginnings of cities;
pr.7. datur haec uenia antiquitati ut miscendo humana diuinis primordia urbium augustiora faciat; et si cui populo licere oportet consecrare origines suas et ad deos referre auctores, ea belli gloria est populo Romano ut cum suum conditorisque sui parentem Martem potissimum ferat, tam et hoc gentes humanae patiantur aequo animo quam imperium patiuntur.
pr.8. and if any people ought to be allowed to consecrate their origins and refer them to a divine source, so great is the military glory of the Roman People that when they profess that their Father and the Father of their Founder was none other than Mars, the nations of the earth may well submit to this also with as good a grace as they submit to Rome's dominion. But to such legends as these, however they shall be regarded and judged, I shall, for my own part, attach no great importance. Here are the questions to which I would have every reader give his close attention —what life and morals were like; through what men and by what policies, in peace and in war, empire was established and enlarged; then let him note how, with the gradual relaxation of discipline, morals first gave way, as it were, then sank lower and lower, and finally began the downward plunge which has brought us to the present time, when we can endure neither our vices nor their cure.
pr.8. sed haec et his similia utcumque animaduersa aut existimata erunt haud in magno equidem ponam discrimine: ad illa mihi pro se quisque acriter intendat animum, quae uita, qui mores fuerint, per quos uiros quibusque artibus domi militiaeque et partum et auctum imperium sit; labente deinde paulatim disciplina uelut desidentes primo mores sequatur animo, deinde ut magis magisque lapsi sint, tum ire coeperint praecipites, donec ad haec tempora quibus nec uitia nostra nec remedia pati possumus peruentum est.
pr.10. What chiefly makes the study of history wholesome and profitable is this, that you behold the lessons of every kind of experience set forth as on a conspicuous monument; from these you may choose for yourself and for your own state what to imitate, from these mark for avoidance what is shameful in the conception and shameful in the result.
pr.10. hoc illud est praecipue in cognitione rerum salubre ac frugiferum. omnis te exempli documenta in inlustri posita monumento intueri; inde tibi tuaeque rei publicae quod imitere capias, inde foedum inceptu foedum exitu quod uites.
pr.11. For the rest, either love of the task I have set myself deceives me, or no state was ever greater, none more righteous or richer in good examples, none ever was where avarice and luxury came into the social order so late, or where humble means and thrift were so highly esteemed and so long held in honour.
pr.11. ceterum aut me amor negotii suscepti fallit, aut nulla unquam res publica nec maior nec sanctior nec bonis exemplis ditior fuit, nec in quam [ciuitatem] tam serae auaritia luxuriaque immigrauerint, nec ubi tantus ac tam diu paupertati ac parsimoniae honos fuerit.
pr.12. For true it is that the less men's wealth was, the less was their greed. Of late, riches have brought in avarice, and excessive pleasures the longing to carry wantonness and licence to the point of ruin for oneself and of universal destruction. But complaints are sure to be disagreeable, even when they shall perhaps be necessary; let the beginning, at all events, of so great an enterprise have none.
pr.12. adeo quanto rerum minus, tanto minus cupiditatis erat: nuper diuitiae auaritiam et abundantes uoluptates desiderium per luxum atque libidinem pereundi perdendique omnia inuexere. sed querellae, ne tum quidem gratae futurae cum forsitan necessariae erunt, ab initio certe tantae ordiendae rei absint:
pr.13. With good omens rather would we begin, and, if historians had the same custom which poets have, with prayers and entreaties to the gods and goddesses, that they might grant us to bring to a successful issue the great task we have undertaken.
pr.13. cum bonis potius ominibus uotisque et precationibus deorum dearumque, si, ut poetis, nobis quoque mos esset, libentius inciperemus, ut orsis tantum operis successus prosperos darent.
1.1. First of all, then, it is generally agreed that when Troy was taken vengeance was wreaked upon the other Trojans, but that two, Aeneas and Antenor, were spared all the penalties of war by the Achivi, owing to long-standing claims of hospitality, and because they had always advocated peace and the giving back of Helen.
1.1. iam primum omnium satis constat Troia capta in ceteros saeuitum esse Troianos, duobus, Aeneae Antenorique, et uetusti iure hospitii et quia pacis reddendaeque Helenae semper auctores fuerant, omne ius belli Achiuos abstinuisse;
1.2. They then experienced various vicissitudes. Antenor, with a company of Eneti who had been expelled from Paphlagonia in a revolution and were looking for a home and a leader —for they had lost their king, Pylaemenes, at Troy —came to the inmost bay of the Adriatic.
1.2. casibus deinde uariis Antenorem cum multitudine Enetum, qui seditione ex Paphlagonia pulsi et sedes et ducem rege Pylaemene ad Troiam amisso quaerebant, uenisse in intimum maris Hadriatici sinum, Euganeisque qui inter mare Alpesque incolebant pulsis Enetos Troianosque eas tenuisse terras.
1.3. There, driving out the Euganei, who dwelt between the sea and the Alps, the Eneti and Trojans took possession of those lands. And in fact the place where they first landed is called Troy, and the district is therefore known as Trojan, while the people as a whole are called the Veneti.
1.3. et in quem primo egressi sunt locum Troia uocatur pagoque inde Troiano nomen est: gens uniuersa Ueneti appellati.
1.4. Aeneas, driven from home by a similar misfortune, but guided by fate to undertakings of greater consequence, came first to Macedonia; thence was carried, in his quest of a place of settlement, to Sicily; and from Sicily laid his course towards the land of Laurentum. This place too is called Troy.
1.4. Aeneam ab simili clade domo profugum sed ad maiora rerum initia ducentibus fatis, primo in Macedoniam uenisse, inde in Siciliam quaerentem sedes delatum, ab Sicilia classe ad Laurentem agrum tenuisse.
1.5. Landing there, the Trojans, as men who, after their all but immeasurable wanderings, had nothing left but their swords and ships, were driving booty from the fields, when King Latinus and the Aborigines, who then occupied that country, rushed down from their city and their fields to repel with arms the violence of the invaders. From this point the tradition follows two lines. Some say that Latinus, having been defeated in the battle, made a peace with Aeneas, and later an alliance of marriage.
1.5. Troia et huic loco nomen est. ibi egressi Troiani, ut quibus ab immenso prope errore nihil praeter arma et naues superesset, cum praedam ex agris agerent, Latinus rex Aboriginesque qui tum ea tenebant loca ad arcendam uim aduenarum armati ex urbe atque agris concurrunt.
1.6. Others maintain that when the opposing lines had been drawn up, Latinus did not wait for the charge to sound, but advanced amidst his chieftains and summoned the captain of the strangers to a parley.
1.6. duplex inde fama est. alii proelio uictum Latinum pacem cum Aenea, deinde adfinitatem iunxisse tradunt:
1.7. He then inquired what men they were, whence they had come, what mishap had caused them to leave their home, and what they sought in landing on the coast of Laurentum. He was told that the people were Trojans and their leader Aeneas, son of Anchises and Venus; that their city had been burnt, and that, driven from home, they were looking for a dwelling-place and a site where they might build a city. Filled with wonder at the renown of the race and the hero, and at his spirit, prepared alike for war or peace, he gave him his right hand in solemn pledge of lasting friendship.
1.7. alii, cum instructae acies constitissent, priusquam signa canerent processisse Latinum inter primores ducemque aduenarum euocasse ad conloquium; percontatum deinde qui mortales essent, unde aut quo casu profecti domo quidue quaerentes in agrum Laurentinum exissent, postquam audierit multitudinem Troianos esse, ducem Aeneam filium Anchisae et Ueneris, cremata patria domo profugos, sedem condendaeque urbi locum quaerere, et nobilitatem admiratum gentis uirique et animum uel bello uel paci paratum, dextra data fidem futurae amicitiae sanxisse.
1.9. The commanders then made a treaty, and the armies saluted each other. Aeneas became a guest in the house of Latinus; there the latter, in the presence of his household gods, added a domestic treaty to the public one, by giving his daughter in marriage to Aeneas.
1.9. inde foedus ictum inter duces, inter exercitus salutationem factam. Aeneam apud Latinum fuisse in hospitio; ibi Latinum apud penates deos domesticum publico adiunxisse foedus filia Aeneae in matrimonium data.
1.10. This event removed any doubt in the minds of the Trojans that they had brought their wanderings to an end at last in a permanent and settled habitation.
1.10. ea res utique Troianis spem adfirmat tandem stabili certaque sede finiendi erroris. oppidum condunt;
1.11. They founded a town, which Aeneas named Lavinium, after his wife. In a short time, moreover, there was a male scion of the new marriage, to whom his parents gave the name of Ascanius.
1.11. Aeneas ab nomine uxoris Lauinium appellat. breui stirpis quoque uirilis ex nouo matrimonio fuit, cui Ascanium parentes dixere nomen.
2.1. War was then made upon Trojans and Aborigines alike. Turnus was king of the Rutulians, and to him Lavinia had been betrothed before the coming of Aeneas. Indignant that a stranger should be preferred before him, he attacked, at the same time, both Aeneas and Latinus.
2.1. bello deinde Aborigines Troianique simul petiti. Turnus rex Rutulorum, cui pacta Lauinia ante aduentum Aeneae fuerat, praelatum sibi aduenam aegre patiens simul Aeneae Latinoque bellum intulerat.
2.2. Neither army came off rejoicing from that battle. The Rutulians were beaten: the victorious Aborigines and Trojans lost their leader Latinus.
2.2. neutra acies laeta ex eo certamine abiit: uicti Rutuli: uictores Aborigines Troianique ducem Latinum amisere.
2.3. Then Turnus and the Rutulians, discouraged at their situation, fled for succour to the opulent and powerful Etruscans and their king Mezentius, who held sway in Caere, at that time an important town. Mezentius had been, from the very beginning, far from pleased at the birth of the new city; he now felt that the Trojan state was growing much more rapidly than was altogether safe for its neighbours, and readily united his forces with those of the Rutulians.
2.3. inde Turnus Rutulique diffisi rebus ad florentes opes Etruscorum Mezentiumque regem eorum confugiunt, qui Caere opulento tum oppido imperitans, iam inde ab initio minime laetus nouae origine urbis et tum nimio plus quam satis tutum esset accolis rem Troianam crescere ratus, haud grauatim socia arma Rutulis iunxit.
2.4. Aeneas, that he might win the goodwill of the Aborigines to confront so formidable an array, and that all might possess not only the same rights but also the same name, called both nations Latins; and from that time on the Aborigines were no less ready and faithful than the Trojans in the service of King Aeneas.
2.4. Aeneas aduersus tanti belli terrorem ut animos Aboriginum sibi conciliaret nec sub eodem iure solum sed etiam nomine omnes essent, Latinos utramque gentem appellauit;
2.5. Accordingly, trusting to this friendly spirit of the two peoples, which were growing each day more united, and, despite the power of Etruria, which had filled with the glory of her name not only the lands but the sea as well, along the whole extent of Italy from the Alps to the Sicilian Strait, Aeneas declined to defend himself behind his walls, as he might have done, but led out his troops to battle.
2.5. nec deinde Aborigines Troianis studio ac fide erga regem Aeneam cessere. fretusque his animis coalescentium in dies magis duorum populorum Aeneas, quamquam tanta opibus Etruria erat ut iam non terras solum sed mare etiam per totam Italiae longitudinem ab Alpibus ad fretum Siculum fama nominis sui implesset, tamen cum moenibus bellum propulsare posset in aciem copias eduxit.
2.6. The fight which ensued was a victory for the Latins: for Aeneas it was, besides, the last of his mortal labours. He lies buried, whether it is fitting and right to term him god or man, on the banks of the river Numicus; men, however, call him Jupiter Indiges.
2.6. secundum inde proelium Latinis, Aeneae etiam ultimum operum mortalium fuit. situs est, quemcumque eum dici ius fasque est super Numicum flumen: Iouem indigetem appellant.
3.1. Ascanius, Aeneas' son, was not yet ripe for authority; yet the authority was kept for him, unimpaired, until he arrived at manhood. Meanwhile, under a woman's regency, the Latin State and the kingdom of his father and his grandfather stood unshaken —so strong was Lavinia's character —until the boy could claim it.
3.1. nondum maturus imperio Ascanius Aeneae filius erat; tamen id imperium ei ad puberem aetatem incolume mansit; tantisper tutela muliebri—tanta indoles in Lauinia erat—res Latina et regnum auitum paternumque puero stetit.
3.2. I shall not discuss the question —for who could affirm for certain so ancient a matter? —whether this boy was Ascanius, or an elder brother, born by Creusa while Ilium yet stood, who accompanied his father when he fled from the city, being the same whom the Julian family call Iulus and claim as the author of their name.
3.2. haud ambigam—quis enim rem tam ueterem pro certo adfirmet?— hicine fuerit Ascanius an maior quam hic, Creusa matre Ilio incolumi natus comesque inde paternae fugae, quem Iulum eundem Iulia gens auctorem nominis sui nuncupat.
3.3. This Ascanius, no matter where born, or of what mother —it is agreed in any case that he was Aeneas' son —left Lavinium, when its population came to be too large, for it was already a flourishing and wealthy city for those days, to his mother, or stepmother, and founded a new city himself below the Alban Mount.
3.3. is Ascanius, ubicumque et quacumque matre genitus—certe natum Aenea constat—abundante Lauinii multitudine florentem iam ut tum res erant atque opulentam urbem matri seu nouercae relinquit, nouam ipse aliam sub Albano monte condidit quae ab situ porrectae in dorso urbis Longa Alba appellata.
3.4. This was known from its position, as it lay stretched out along the ridge, by the name of Alba Longa. From the settlement of Lavinium to the planting of the colony at Alba Longa was an interval of some thirty years.
3.4. inter Lauinium et Albam Longam coloniam deductam triginta ferme interfuere anni. tantum tamen opes creuerant maxime fusis Etruscis ut ne morte quidem Aeneae nec deinde inter muliebrem tutelam rudimentumque primum puerilis regni mouere arma aut Mezentius Etruscique aut ulli alii accolae ausi sint.
3.5. Yet the nation had grown so powerful, in consequence especially of the defeat of the Etruscans, that even when Aeneas died, and even when a woman became its regent and a boy began his apprenticeship as king, neither Mezentius and his Etruscans nor any other neighbours dared to attack them.
3.5. pax ita conuenerat ut Etruscis Latinisque fluuius Albula, quem nunc Tiberim uocant, finis esset.
3.6. Peace had been agreed to on these terms, that the River Albula, which men now call the Tiber, should be the boundary between the Etruscans and the Latins.
3.6. Siluius deinde regnat Ascani filius, casu quodam in siluis natus;
3.7. Next Silvius reigned, son of Ascanius, born, as it chanced, in the forest. He begat Aeneas Silvius, and he Latinus Silvius. By him several colonies were planted, and called the Ancient Latins.
3.7. is Aeneam Siluium creat; is deinde Latinum Siluium. ab eo coloniae aliquot deductae, Prisci Latini appellati. mansit Siluiis postea omnibus cognomen, qui Albae regnarunt.
3.8. Thereafter the cognomen Silvius was retained by all who ruled at Alba. From Latinus came Alba, from Alba Atys, from Atys Capys, from Capys Capetus, from Capetus Tiberinus.
3.8. Latino Alba ortus, Alba Atys, Atye Capys, Capye Capetus, Capeto Tiberinus, qui in traiectu Albulae amnis submersus celebre ad posteros nomen flumini dedit.
3.9. This last king was drowned in crossing the River Albula, and gave the stream the name which has been current with later generations. Then Agrippa, son of Tiberinus, reigned, and after Agrippa Romulus Silvius was king, having received the power from his father. Upon the death of Romulus by lightning, the kingship passed from him to Aventinus. This king was buried on that hill, which is now a part of the City of Rome, and gave his name to the hill.
3.9. Agrippa inde Tiberini filius, post Agrippam Romulus Siluius a patre accepto imperio regnat. Auentino fulmine ipse ictus regnum per manus tradidit. is sepultus in eo colle qui nunc pars Romanae est urbis, cognomen colli fecit. Proca deinde regnat.
3.10. Proca ruled next. He begat Numitor and Amulius; to Numitor, the elder, he bequeathed the ancient realm of the Silvian family. Yet violence proved more potent than a father's wishes or respect for seniority. Amulius drove out his brother and ruled in his stead.
3.10. is Numitorem atque Amulium procreat; Numitori, qui stirpis maximus erat, regnum uetustum Siluiae gentis legat. plus tamen uis potuit quam uoluntas patris aut uerecundia aetatis: pulso fratre Amulius regnat.
3.11. Adding crime to crime, he destroyed Numitor's male issue; and Rhea Silvia, his brother's daughter, he appointed a Vestal under pretence of honouring, her, and by consigning her to perpetual virginity, deprived her of the hope of children.
3.11. addit sceleri scelus: stirpem fratris uirilem interemit, fratris filiae Reae Siluiae per speciem honoris cum Uestalem eam legisset perpetua uirginitate spem partus adimit.
4.1. But the Fates were resolved, as I suppose, upon the founding of this great City, and the beginning of the mightiest of empires, next after that of Heaven.
4.1. sed debebatur, ut opinor, fatis tantae origo urbis maximique secundum deorum opes imperii principium.
4.2. The Vestal was ravished, and having given birth to twin sons, named Mars as the father of her doubtful offspring, whether actually so believing, or because it seemed less wrong if a god were the author of her fault.
4.2. ui compressa Uestalis cum geminum partum edidisset, seu ita rata seu quia deus auctor culpae honestior erat, Martem incertae stirpis patrem nuncupat.
4.3. But neither gods nor men protected the mother herself or her babes from the king's cruelty; the priestess he ordered to be manacled and cast into prison, the children to be committed to the river.
4.3. sed nec di nec homines aut ipsam aut stirpem a crudelitate regia uindicant: sacerdos uincta in custodiam datur, pueros in profluentem aquam mitti iubet.
4.4. It happened by singular good fortune that the Tiber having spread beyond its banks into stagnant pools afforded nowhere any access to the regular channel of the river, and the men who brought the twins were led to hope that being infants they might be drowned, no matter how sluggish the stream.
4.4. forte quadam diuinitus super ripas Tiberis effusus lenibus stagnis nec adiri usquam ad iusti cursum poterat amnis et posse quamuis languida mergi aqua infantes spem ferentibus dabat.
4.5. So they made shift to discharge the king's command, by exposing the babes at the nearest point of the overflow, where the fig-tree Ruminalis —formerly, they say, called Romularis —now stands.
4.5. ita uelut defuncti regis imperio in proxima alluuie ubi nunc ficus Ruminalis est—Romularem uocatam ferunt— pueros exponunt.
4.6. In those days this was a wild and uninhabited region. The story persists that when the floating basket in which the children had been exposed was left high and dry by the receding water, a she-wolf, coming down out of the surrounding hills to slake her thirst, turned her steps towards the cry of the infants, and with her teats gave them suck so gently, that the keeper of the royal flock found her licking them with her tongue.
4.6. uastae tum in his locis solitudines erant. tenet fama cum fluitantem alueum, quo expositi erant pueri, tenuis in sicco aqua destituisset, lupam sitientem ex montibus qui circa sunt ad puerilem uagitum cursum flexisse; eam submissas infantibus adeo mitem praebuisse mammas ut lingua lambentem pueros magister regii pecoris inuenerit— Faustulo fuisse nomen ferunt—ab eo ad stabula Larentiae uxori educandos datos.
4.7. Tradition assigns to this man the name of Faustulus, and adds that he carried the twins to his hut and gave them to his wife Larentia to rear. Some think that Larentia, having been free with her favours, had got the name of “she-wolf” among the shepherds, and that this gave rise to this marvellous story.
4.7. sunt qui Larentiam uolgato corpore lupam inter pastores uocatam putent; inde locum fabulae ac miraculo datum.
4.8. The boys, thus born and reared, had no sooner attained to youth than they began —yet without neglecting the farmstead or the flocks —to range the glades of the mountains for game.
4.8. ita geniti itaque educati, cum primum adoleuit aetas, nec in stabulis nec ad pecora segnes uenando peragrare saltus.
4.9. Having in this way gained both strength and resolution, they would now not only face wild beasts, but would attack robbers laden with their spoils, and divide up what they took from them among the shepherds, with whom they shared their toils and pranks, while their band of young men grew larger every day.
4.9. hinc robore corporibus animisque sumpto iam non feras tantum subsistere sed in latrones praeda onustos impetus facere pastoribusque rapta diuidere et cum his crescente in dies grege iuuenum seria ac iocos celebrare.
5.1. They say that the Palatine was even then the scene of the merry festival of the Lupercalia which we have to-day, and that the hill was named Pallantium, from Pallanteum, an Arcadian city, and then Palatium.
5.1. iam tum in Palatio [monte] Lupercal hoc fuisse ludicrum ferunt, et a Pallanteo, urbe Arcadica, Pallantium, dein Palatium montem appellatum;
5.2. There Evander, an Arcadian of that stock, who had held the place many ages before the time of which I am writing, is said to have established the yearly rite, derived from Arcadia, that youths should run naked about in playful sport, doing honour to Lycaean Pan, whom the Romans afterwards called Inuus.
5.2. ibi Euandrum, qui ex eo genere Arcadum multis ante tempestatibus tenuerit loca, sollemne allatum ex Arcadia instituisse ut nudi iuuenes Lycaeum Pana uenerantes per lusum atque lasciuiam currerent, quem Romani deinde uocarunt Inuum.
5.3. When the young men were occupied in this celebration, the rite being generally known, some robbers who had been angered by the loss of their plunder laid an ambush for them, and although Romulus successfully defended himself, captured Remus and delivered up their prisoner to King Amulius, even lodging a complaint against him.
5.3. huic deditis ludicro cum sollemne notum esset insidiatos ob iram praedae amissae latrones, cum Romulus ui se defendisset, Remum cepisse, captum regi Amulio tradidisse, ultro accusantes.
5.4. The main charge was that the brothers made raids on the lands of Numitor, and pillaged them, with a band of young fellows which they had got together, like an invading enemy.
5.4. crimini maxime dabant in Numitoris agros ab iis impetum fieri; inde eos collecta iuuenum manu hostilem in modum praedas agere.
5.5. So Remus was given up to Numitor to be punished. From the very beginning Faustulus had entertained the suspicion that they were children of the royal blood that he was bringing up in his house; for he was aware both that infants had been exposed by order of the king, and that the time when he had himself taken up the children exactly coincided with that event. But he had been unwilling that the matter should be disclosed prematurely, until opportunity offered or necessity compelled.
5.5. sic Numitori ad supplicium Remus deditur. iam inde ab initio Faustulo spes fuerat regiam stirpem apud se educari; nam et expositos iussu regis infantes sciebat et tempus quo ipse eos sustulisset ad id ipsum congruere; sed rem immaturam nisi aut per occasionem aut per necessitatem aperiri noluerat.
5.6. Necessity came first; accordingly, driven by fear, he revealed the facts to Romulus. It chanced that Numitor too, having Remus in custody, and hearing that the brothers were twins, had been reminded, upon considering their age and their far from servile nature, of his grandsons. The inquiries he made led him to the same conclusion, so that he was almost ready to acknowledge Remus. Thus on every hand the toils were woven about the king.
5.6. necessitas prior uenit: ita metu subactus Romulo rem aperit. forte et Numitori cum in custodia Remum haberet audissetque geminos esse fratres, comparando et aetatem eorum et ipsam minime seruilem indolem, tetigerat animum memoria nepotum; sciscitandoque eodem peruenit ut haud procul esset quin Remum agnosceret. ita undique regi dolus nectitur.
5.7. Romulus did not assemble his company of youths —for he was not equal to open violence —but commanded his shepherds to come to the palace at an appointed time, some by one way, some by another, and so made his attack upon the king; while from the house of Numitor came Remus, with another party which he had got together, to help his brother. So Romulus slew the king.
5.7. Romulus non cum globo iuuenum—nec enim erat ad uim apertam par—sed aliis alio itinere iussis certo tempore ad regiam uenire pastoribus ad regem impetum facit; et a domo Numitoris alia comparata manu adiuuat Remus. ita regem obtruncat.
6.1. At the beginning of the fray Numitor exclaimed that an enemy had invaded the city and attacked the palace, and drew off the active men of the place to serve as an armed garrison for the defence of the citadel; and when he saw the young men approaching, after they had dispatched the king, to congratulate him, he at once summoned a council, and laid before it his brother's crimes against himself, the parentage of his grandsons, and how they had been born, reared, and recognised.
6.1. Numitor inter primum tumultum, hostes inuasisse urbem atque adortos regiam dictitans, cum pubem Albanam in arcem praesidio armisque obtinendam auocasset, postquam iuuenes perpetrata caede pergere ad se gratulantes uidit, extemplo aduocato concilio scelera in se fratris, originem nepotum, ut geniti, ut educati, ut cogniti essent, caedem deinceps tyranni seque eius auctorem ostendit.
6.2. He then announced the tyrant's death, and declared himself to be responsible for it. The brothers advanced with their band through the midst of the crowd, and hailed their grandfather king, whereupon such a shout of assent arose from the entire throng as confirmed the new monarch's title and authority.
6.2. iuuenes per mediam contionem agmine ingressi cum auum regem salutassent, secuta ex omni multitudine consentiens uox ratum nomen imperiumque regi efficit.
6.3. The Alban state being thus made over to Numitor, Romulus and Remus were seized with the desire to found a city in the region where they had been exposed and brought up. And in fact the population of Albans and Latins was too large; besides, there were the shepherds. All together, their numbers might easily lead men to hope that Alba would be small, and Lavinium small, compared with the city which they should build.
6.3. ita Numitori Albana re permissa Romulum Remumque cupido cepit in iis locis ubi expositi ubique educati erant urbis condendae. et supererat multitudo Albanorum Latinorumque; ad id pastores quoque accesserant, qui omnes facile spem facerent paruam Albam, paruum Lauinium prae ea urbe quae conderetur fore.
6.4. These considerations were interrupted by the curse of their grandsires, the greed of kingly power, and by a shameful quarrel which grew out of it, upon an occasion innocent enough. Since the brothers were twins, and respect for their age could not determine between them, it was agreed that the gods who had those places in their protection should choose by augury who should give the new city its name, who should govern it when built. Romulus took the Palatine for his augural quarter, Remus the Aventine.
6.4. interuenit deinde his cogitationibus auitum malum, regni cupido, atque inde foedum certamen coortum a satis miti principio. quoniam gemini essent nec aetatis uerecundia discrimen facere posset, ut di quorum tutelae ea loca essent auguriis legerent qui nomen nouae urbi daret, qui conditam imperio regeret, Palatium Romulus, Remus Auentinum ad inaugurandum templa capiunt.
7.1. Remus is said to have been the first to receive an augury, from the flight of six vultures. The omen had been already reported when twice that number appeared to Romulus. Thereupon each was saluted king by his own followers, the one party laying claim to the honour from priority, the other from the number of the birds.
7.1. priori Remo augurium uenisse fertur, sex uoltures; iamque nuntiato augurio cum duplex numerus Romulo se ostendisset, utrumque regem sua multitudo consalutauerat: tempore illi praecepto, at hi numero auium regnum trahebant.
7.2. They then engaged in a battle of words and, angry taunts leading to bloodshed, Remus was struck down in the affray. The commoner story is that Remus leaped over the new walls in mockery of his brother, whereupon Romulus in great anger slew him, and in menacing wise added these words withal, “So perish whoever else shall leap over my walls!”
7.2. inde cum altercatione congressi certamine irarum ad caedem uertuntur; ibi in turba ictus Remus cecidit. uolgatior fama est ludibrio fratris Remum nouos transiluisse muros; inde ab irato Romulo, cum uerbis quoque increpitans adiecisset, 'sic deinde, quicumque alius transiliet moenia mea,' interfectum.
7.3. Thus Romulus acquired sole power, and the city, thus founded, was called by its founder's name. His first act was to fortify the Palatine, on which he had himself been reared. To other gods he sacrificed after the Alban custom, but employed the Greek for Hercules, according to the institution of Evander.
7.3. ita solus potitus imperio Romulus; condita urbs conditoris nomine appellata. Palatium primum, in quo ipse erat educatus, muniit. sacra dis aliis Albano ritu, Graeco Herculi, ut ab Euandro instituta erant, facit.
7.4. The story is as follows: Hercules, after slaying Geryones, was driving off his wondrously beautiful cattle, when, close to the river Tiber, where he had swum across it with the herd before him, he found a green spot, where he could let the cattle rest and refresh themselves with the abundant grass; and being tired from his journey he lay down himself.
7.4. Herculem in ea loca Geryone interempto boues mira specie abegisse memorant, ac prope Tiberim fluuium, qua prae se armentum agens nando traiecerat, loco herbido ut quiete et pabulo laeto reficeret boues et ipsum fessum uia procubuisse.
7.5. When he had there fallen into a deep sleep, for he was heavy with food and wine, a shepherd by the name of Cacus, who dwelt hard by and was insolent by reason of his strength, was struck with the beauty of the animals, and wished to drive them off as plunder. But if he had driven the herd into his cave, their tracks would have been enough to guide their owner to the place in his search; he therefore chose out those of the cattle that were most remarkable for their beauty, and turning them the other way, dragged them into the cave by their tails.
7.5. ibi cum eum cibo uinoque grauatum sopor oppressisset, pastor accola eius loci, nomine Cacus, ferox uiribus, captus pulchritudine boum cum auertere eam praedam uellet, quia si agendo armentum in speluncam compulisset ipsa uestigia quaerentem dominum eo deductura erant, auersos boues eximium quemque pulchritudine caudis in speluncam traxit.
7.6. At daybreak Hercules awoke. Glancing over the herd, and perceiving that a part of their number was lacking, he proceeded to the nearest cave, in case there might be foot-prints leading into it. When he saw that they were all turned outward and yet did not lead to any other place, he was confused and bewildered, and made ready to drive his herd away from that uncanny spot.
7.6. Hercules ad primam auroram somno excitus cum gregem perlustrasset oculis et partem abesse numero sensisset, pergit ad proximam speluncam, si forte eo uestigia ferrent. quae ubi omnia foras uersa uidit nec in partem aliam ferre, confusus atque incertus animi ex loco infesto agere porro armentum occepit.
7.7. As the cattle were being driven off, some of them lowed, as usually happens, missing those which had been left behind. They were answered with a low by the cattle shut up in the cave, and this made Hercules turn back. When he came towards the cave, Cacus would have prevented his approach with force, but received a blow from the hero's club, and calling in vain upon the shepherds to protect him, gave up the ghost.
7.7. inde cum actae boues quaedam ad desiderium, ut fit, relictarum mugissent, reddita inclusarum ex spelunca boum uox Herculem conuertit. quem cum uadentem ad speluncam Cacus ui prohibere conatus esset, ictus claua fidem pastorum nequiquam inuocans [morte] occubuit.
7.8. Evander, an exile from the Peloponnese, controlled that region in those days, more through personal influence than sovereign power. He was a man revered for his wonderful invention of letters, a new thing to men unacquainted with the arts, and even more revered because of the divinity which men attributed to his mother Carmenta, whom those tribes had admired as a prophetess before the Sibyl's coming into Italy.
7.8. Euander tum ea, profugus ex Peloponneso, auctoritate magis quam imperio regebat loca, uenerabilis uir miraculo litterarum, rei nouae inter rudes artium homines, uenerabilior diuinitate credita Carmentae matris, quam fatiloquam ante sibyllae in Italiam aduentum miratae eae gentes fuerant.
7.9. Now this Evander was then attracted by the concourse of shepherds, who, crowding excitedly about the stranger, were accusing him as a murderer caught red-handed. When he had been told about the deed and the reason for it, and had marked the bearing of the man and his figure, which was somewhat ampler and more august than a mortal's, he inquired who he was.
7.9. is tum Euander concursu pastorum trepidantium circa aduenam manifestae reum caedis excitus postquam facinus facinorisque causam audiuit, habitum formamque uiri aliquantum ampliorem augustioremque humana intuens rogitat qui uir esset.
7.10. Upon learning his name, his father, and his birth-place, he exclaimed, “Hail, Hercules, son of Jupiter! You are he, of whom my mother, truthful interpreter of Heaven, foretold to me that you should be added to the number of the gods, and that an altar should be dedicated to you here which the nation one day to ” “be the most powerful on earth should call the Greatest Altar, and should serve according to your rite.”
7.10. ubi nomen patremque ac patriam accepit, 'Ioue nate, Hercules, salue,' inquit; 'te mihi mater, ueridica interpres deum, aucturum caelestium numerum cecinit, tibique aram hic dicatum iri quam opulentissima olim in terris gens maximam uocet tuoque ritu colat.' dextra Hercules data accipere se omen impleturumque fata ara condita ac dicata ait.
7.12. Hercules gave him his hand, and declared that he accepted the omen, and would fulfil the prophecy by establishing and dedicating an altar. Then and there men took a choice victim from the herd, and for the first time made sacrifice to Hercules.
7.12. ibi tum primum boue eximia capta de grege sacrum Herculi, adhibitis ad ministerium dapemque Potitiis ac Pinariis, quae tum familiae maxime inclitae ea loca incolebant, factum.
7.13. For the ministry and the banquet they employed the Potitii and the Pinarii, being the families of most distinction then living in that region. It so fell out that the Potitii were there at the appointed time, and to them were served the inwards; the Pinarii came after the inwards had been eaten, in season for the remainder of the feast.
7.13. forte ita euenit ut Potitii ad tempus praesto essent iisque exta apponerentur, Pinarii extis adesis ad ceteram uenirent dapem. inde institutum mansit donec Pinarium genus fuit, ne extis eorum sollemnium uescerentur.
7.14. Thence came the custom, which persisted as long as the Pinarian family endured, that they should not partake of the inwards at that sacrifice. The Potitii, instructed by Evander, were priests of this cult for many generations, until, having delegated to public slaves the solemn function of their family, the entire stock of the Potitii died out.
7.14. Potitii ab Euandro edocti antistites sacri eius per multas aetates fuerunt, donec tradito seruis publicis sollemni familiae ministerio genus omne Potitiorum interiit.
7.15. This was the only sacred observance, of all those of foreign origin, which Romulus then adopted, honouring even then the immortality won by worth to which his own destiny was leading him.
7.15. haec tum sacra Romulus una ex omnibus peregrina suscepit, iam tum immortalitatis uirtute partae ad quam eum sua fata ducebant fautor.
8.1. When Romulus had duly attended to the worship of the gods, he called the people together and gave them the rules of law, since nothing else but law could unite them into a single body politic.
8.1. rebus diuinis rite perpetratis uocataque ad concilium multitudine quae coalescere in populi unius corpus nulla re praeterquam legibus poterat, iura dedit;
8.2. But these, he was persuaded, would only appear binding in the eyes of a rustic people in case he should invest his own person with majesty, by adopting emblems of authority. He therefore put on a more august state in every way, and especially by the assumption of twelve lictors.
8.2. quae ita sancta generi hominum agresti fore ratus, si se ipse uenerabilem insignibus imperii fecisset, cum cetero habitu se augustiorem, tum maxime lictoribus duodecim sumptis fecit.
8.3. Some think the twelve birds which had given him an augury of kingship led him to choose this number. For my part, I am content to share the opinion of those who derive from the neighbouring Etruscans (whence were borrowed the curule chair and purple-bordered toga) not only the type of attendants but their number as well —a number which the Etruscans themselves are thought to have chosen because each of the twelve cities which united to elect the king contributed one lictor.
8.3. alii ab numero auium quae augurio regnum portenderant eum secutum numerum putant: me haud paenitet eorum sententiae esse quibus et apparitores hoc genus ab Etruscis finitimis, unde sella curulis, unde toga praetexta sumpta est, <et> numerum quoque ipsum ductum placet, et ita habuisse Etruscos quod ex duodecim populis communiter creato rege singulos singuli populi lictores dederint.
8.4. Meanwhile the City was expanding and reaching out its walls to include one place after another, for they built their defences with an eye rather to the population which they hoped one day to have than to the numbers they had then.
8.4. crescebat interim urbs munitionibus alia atque alia appetendo loca, cum in spem magis futurae multitudinis quam ad id quod tum hominum erat munirent.
8.5. Next, lest his big City should be empty, Romulus resorted to a plan for increasing the inhabitants which had long been employed by the founders of cities, who gather about them an obscure and lowly multitude and pretend that the earth has raised up sons to them. In the place which is now enclosed, between the two groves as you go up the hill, he opened a sanctuary.
8.5. deinde ne uana urbis magnitudo esset, adiciendae multitudinis causa uetere consilio condentium urbes, qui obscuram atque humilem conciendo ad se multitudinem natam e terra sibi prolem ementiebantur, locum qui nunc saeptus escendentibus inter duos lucos est asylum aperit.
8.6. Thither fled, from the surrounding peoples, a miscellaneous rabble, without distinction of bond or free, eager for new conditions; and these constituted the first advance in power towards that greatness at which Romulus aimed.
8.6. eo ex finitimis populis turba omnis sine discrimine, liber an seruus esset, auida nouarum rerum perfugit, idque primum ad coeptam magnitudinem roboris fuit.
8.7. He had now no reason to be dissatisfied with his strength, and proceeded to add policy to strength. He appointed a hundred senators, whether because this number seemed to him sufficient, or because there were no more than a hundred who could be designated Fathers. At all events, they received the designation of Fathers from their rank, and their descendants were called patricians.
8.7. cum iam uirium haud paeniteret consilium deinde uiribus parat. centum creat senatores, siue quia is numerus satis erat, siue quia soli centum erant qui creari patres possent. patres certe ab honore patriciique progenies eorum appellati.
9.1. Rome was now strong enough to hold her own in war with any of the adjacent states; but owing to the want of women a single generation was likely to see the end of her greatness, since she had neither prospect of posterity at home nor the right of intermarriage with her neighbours.
9.1. iam res Romana adeo erat ualida ut cuilibet finitimarum ciuitatum bello par esset; sed penuria mulierum hominis aetatem duratura magnitudo erat, quippe quibus nec domi spes prolis nec cum finitimis conubia essent.
9.2. So, on the advice of the senate, Romulus sent envoys round among all the neighbouring nations to solicit for the new people an alliance and the privilege of intermarrying.
9.2. tum ex consilio patrum Romulus legatos circa uicinas gentes misit qui societatem conubiumque nouo populo peterent:
9.3. Cities, they argued, as well as all other things, take their rise from the lowliest beginnings. As time goes on, those which are aided by their own worth and by the favour of Heaven achieve great power and renown.
9.3. urbes quoque, ut cetera, ex infimo nasci; dein, quas sua uirtus ac di iuuent, magnas opes sibi magnumque nomen facere;
9.4. They said they were well assured that Rome's origin had been blessed with the favour of Heaven, and that worth would not be lacking; their neighbours should not be reluctant to mingle their stock and their blood with the Romans, who were as truly men as they were.
9.4. satis scire, origini Romanae et deos adfuisse et non defuturam uirtutem; proinde ne grauarentur homines cum hominibus sanguinem ac genus miscere.
9.5. Nowhere did the embassy obtain a friendly hearing. In fact men spurned, at the same time that they feared, both for themselves and their descendants, that great power which was then growing up in their midst; and the envoys were frequently asked, on being dismissed, if they had opened a sanctuary for women as well as for men, for in that way only would they obtain suitable wives.
9.5. nusquam benigne legatio audita est: adeo simul spernebant, simul tantam in medio crescentem molem sibi ac posteris suis metuebant. ac plerisque rogitantibus dimissi ecquod feminis quoque asylum aperuissent; id enim demum compar conubium fore.
9.6. This was a bitter insult to the young Romans, and the matter seemed certain to end in violence. Expressly to afford a fitting time and place for this, Romulus, concealing his resentment, made ready solemn games in honour of the equestrian Neptune, which he called Consualia.
9.6. aegre id Romana pubes passa et haud dubie ad uim spectare res coepit. cui tempus locumque aptum ut daret Romulus aegritudinem animi dissimulans ludos ex industria parat Neptuno equestri sollemnes; Consualia uocat.
9.7. He then bade proclaim the spectacle to the surrounding peoples, and his subjects prepared to celebrate it with all the resources within their knowledge and power, that they might cause the occasion to be noised abroad and eagerly expected.
9.7. indici deinde finitimis spectaculum iubet; quantoque apparatu tum sciebant aut poterant, concelebrant ut rem claram exspectatamque facerent.
9.8. Many people —for they were also eager to see the new city —gathered for the festival, especially those who lived nearest, the inhabitants of Caenina, Crustumium, and Antemnae.
9.8. multi mortales conuenere, studio etiam uidendae nouae urbis, maxime proximi quique, Caeninenses, Crustumini, Antemnates;
9.9. The Sabines, too, came with all their people, including their children and wives. They were hospitably entertained in every house, and when they had looked at the site of the City, its walls, and its numerous buildings, they marvelled that Rome had so rapidly grown great.
9.9. iam Sabinorum omnis multitudo cum liberis ac coniugibus uenit. inuitati hospitaliter per domos cum situm moeniaque et frequentem tectis urbem uidissent, mirantur tam breui rem Romanam creuisse.
9.10. When the time came for the show, and people's thoughts and eyes were busy with it, the preconcerted attack began. At a given signal the young Romans darted this way and that, to seize and carry off the maidens.
9.10. ubi spectaculi tempus uenit deditaeque eo mentes cum oculis erant, tum ex composito orta uis signoque dato iuuentus Romana ad rapiendas uirgines discurrit.
9.11. In most cases these were taken by the men in whose path they chanced to be. Some, of exceptional beauty, had been marked out for the chief senators, and were carried off to their houses by plebeians to whom the office had been entrusted.
9.11. magna pars forte in quem quaeque inciderat raptae: quasdam forma excellentes, primoribus patrum destinatas, ex plebe homines quibus datum negotium erat domos deferebant.
9.12. One, who far excelled the rest in mien and loveliness, was seized, the story relates, by the gang of a certain Thalassius. Being repeatedly asked for whom they were bearing her off, they kept shouting that no one should touch her, for they were taking her to Thalassius, and this was the origin of the wedding-cry.
9.12. unam longe ante alias specie ac pulchritudine insignem a globo Thalassi cuiusdam raptam ferunt multisque sciscitantibus cuinam eam ferrent, identidem ne quis uiolaret Thalassio ferri clamitatum; inde nuptialem hanc uocem factam.
9.13. The sports broke up in a panic, and the parents of the maidens fled sorrowing. They charged the Romans with the crime of violating hospitality, and invoked the gods to whose solemn games they had come, deceived in violation of religion and honour.
9.13. turbato per metum ludicro maesti parentes uirginum profugiunt, incusantes uiolati hospitii foedus deumque inuocantes cuius ad sollemne ludosque per fas ac fidem decepti uenissent.